Bob Collymore to exit Safaricom

Health reasons could be behind Safaricom chief executive officer Bob Collymore’s decision to leave the trillion shilling company even as a succession row could be in the offing, according to a report by Reuters.

The international news organisation reported on April 29 that an announcement on Collymore’s replacement hinges on government’s insistence that the next head of Safaricom be a Kenyan.

Reuters cited two company sources in its news report.

Collymore, who had taken a nine month medical leave since late 2017 to battle cancer, has managed to raise Safaricom’s stock by more than 400% to an average of Ksh28.

In turn, the telco has risen to become the most valuable company at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), worth around Ksh1.1 trillion.

Days before the Reuters report, Collymore had told Citizen TV’s Jeff Koinange that he was feeling “pretty good” about his health.

According to one source quoted by Reuters who spoke under anonymity due to there being no official announcement yet, the Safaricom CEO wishes to concentrate on his health and will not renew his contract.

This is a developing news story and is being updated…